Winsford based Tiger Trailers is on the hunt for dozens of new staff after outgrowing its current based on the town's industrial estate. It's moving to its new building on the estate in the New Year.

The Council and its partner Public Sector Plc have supported the trailer manufacturer by unlocking the land for it to expand and the four-year-old company is now taking on new staff from the Winsford and west Cheshire area.

Up to 1,500 jobs could be created at the industrial estate after the Council’s partnership with Public Sector Plc resulted in planning permission to deliver a 350,000 sq ft of new employment floorspace on land next to the existing site. There are also plans to support the area with a petrol station, a pub and a hotel.

Tiger Trailers manufacturing director Richard Else said: “The Council investing in the Industrial Estate is very important. Creating employment locally just has a massive knock on effect to the community.

“If the businesses on Winsford Industrial Estate are doing well, the local shops, and those smaller and bigger businesses will thrive and attract more people to work here. They will be spending the money they earn in the local community. It will be a real win, win for Winsford as the estate continues to thrive and grow. When you look around, Winsford really feels like it is thriving at the moment.

He added: “The Council has got some real foresight to support local businesses to develop. If you fix the inputs, the outputs take care of themselves. Supporting businesses to find the right premises, the right sites, the right skills and access to the right funding will make a real difference.”

Tiger Trailers says it has big ambitions for its future which it sees remaining in in the town.

Richard said: “We have outgrown the facility we are in at the moment. We are really delighted to be working in Winsford, it has worked very well for us. Having the new site down the road just give us the opportunity to design the manufacturing facility to be very efficient but also deliver on the demands we have got from our customers.

“We have been able to recruit a lot of local people, find the skills locally but we have also found people with the right attitude from a work perspective. We have trained them to develop the skills we need. We have a really successful apprenticeship programme, and most of those people have been recruited from the Winsford and surrounding area.

“Moving into the new factory, we are going to grow the workforce by about 40 to 50 in this first phase. If our business plan comes off, we will increase the workforce even further. Winsford Industrial Estate is a really good hub into North Wales, onto the motorway network and across the Pennines. From a geographic point of view it works in terms of us distributing products to customers but also getting product in from suppliers as well.

Richard added: “I want to make this a world class manufacturing facility that not just the rest of the trailer industry wants to come and benchmark but the rest of the UK wants to come and benchmark. This site is set for a very exciting future and Tiger Trailers is very committed to be a part of that future.”

Councillor Brian Clarke, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Infrastructure, said: “The whole community can benefit from the expansion of Winsford Industrial Estate. The Council has invested in the site because it wants our residents to thrive and by committing to the future expansion of the site we are helping to safeguard the financial future of our whole community.

“Tiger Trailers has also committed its future to Winsford and other businesses will benefit from that decision, which will help to maintain the economic growth of the town and west Cheshire as a whole.”

Paul Brown, Regional Director at Public Sector Plc, has been working in partnership with the Council for a number of years, supporting numerous asset management and regeneration projects across the borough.

“The Winsford Industrial Estate development is more than just new buildings. It’s about supporting the growth of existing companies with much needed state-of-art expansion space as well as welcoming new businesses to the region.

“The Council has a vision to create a new industrial hub which will leave a lasting legacy for future generations. We’re already seeing the positive ripple effects from this project with increased investment, new career opportunities and the creation of a commercial destination to support the thriving local economy.”